The Philip Glass Ensemble - Glass Works Live (1983)

I've mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of Philip Glass, and have many of his albums, but he doesn't tend to perform his early works live very often, and so this 1983 recording of his ensemble is particularly welcome, especially as it acts pretty much as a 'best of' his work. Featuring three tracks from the classic 'Glassworks', plus two apiece from 'The Photographer' and 'Einstein On The Beach' and one from 'Koyaanisqatsi', you couldn't ask for a better collection to showcase his music to someone who was not familiar with this modern genius of classical music. His work is the epitome of minimalism, being built up from repetitive phrases and shifting layers, and in 1968 he founded the Philip Glass Ensemble to play his music live. To date he has written 15 operas, numerous chamber operas and musical theatre works, 14 symphonies, 12 concertos, nine string quartets, various other chamber music pieces, and many film scores, but I still return regularly to his early albums such as 'Glassworks', 'Music In 12 Parts', '1000 Airplanes On The Roof', and 'The Photographer', so this live concert, recorded at the Grosser Konzerthaussal, Wien, in Austria, is going to be played to death. Devotees of Glass's work will find this a rare treat, while newcomers could do worse that give this a try to see if you like his music, and hopefully it will gain him a few new fans.   

Track listing

01 Dance 1 ("Field With Spaceship") (from 'Einstein On The Beach', Act II, Scene 1)
02 Floe (from 'Glassworks')
03 The Grid (from 'Koyaanisqatsi')
04 Rubric (from 'Glassworks')
05 Facades (from 'Glassworks')
06 ACT I: "A Gentleman's Honor" (from 'The Photographer')
07 ACT III (from 'The Photographer')
08 Spaceship (from 'Einstein On The Beach', Act IV, Scene 3)